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SPEECH 






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JOHN ^ELL, OF TENNESSEE, 



ON 



SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES. 



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WASHINGTON: 

GIDEON AND CO., PRINTERS. 
1850. 



c~::se^^ 



SPEECH 



OF 



JOHN BELL, OF TENNESSEE, 



ON 



SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES, 



AND 



THE CAUSES OF THE PRESENT DISSENSIONS BETWEEN 
THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH. 

(v. 




DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES ON 
THE 5th and 6th OF JULY, 1850. 



WASHINGTON: 
GIDEON AND CO., PRINTERS. 

1850. 



^AT" 



4^ 



X 



TO MY FELLOW-CITIZENS OF TENNESSEE. 

The following pages of a late speech, delivered in the Senate of the United States, contain 
matter which I have deemed worthy of a separate publication. 

I can, with some confidence, commend not a casual reading only, but the study of the chain 
of facts presented, in the brief sketch I have attempted, of the party history of the country. If 
I am not greatly mistaken, the reader will find in those facts a sufficient and ample explanation 
of the causes of those dissensions between the North and the South which have given rise, of 
late, to such painful apprehension in the public mind; obstructed, for nine months, national le- 
gislation upon all other subjects of public concern, and brought the country to the verge of do- 
mestic convulsion. 

The crisis is not past ; nor can perfect harmony be restored to the country until the North 
shall cease to vex the South upon the subject of slavery ; and that can never be, while the ani- 
mating principal of party organization and cohesion continues without change or modification. 
The excesses to which the spirit of party and personal ambition, when most chastened, con- 
stantly tend in all popular governments, have always been regarded as the most formidable 
danger to which our system is exposed. This danger assumes a more serious and threatening 
aspect when, from the ignoble objects for which parties contend, they lose their dignity and de- 
generate into factions ; but the danger becomes imminent and extreme when sectional interests — 
sectional jealousies, inflamed by a diversity of social relations— become elements of political strife. 
I do not despair of the Republic ; but as long as millions of money, under the disguise of 
official patronage, shall continue, as now, by the practice of the Government, to operate as a 
standing premium to successful faction, and mischievous agitation upon all subjects and ques- 
tions of an inflammatory nature, I shall regard no part of our system as fixed, or settled upon a 
sure foundation. 

I am no alarmist ; I do not think myself subject to needless alarms ; indeed, I feel no alarm 
as to any immediate results of a violent or revolutionary nature ; but I would be faithless to the 
trust which I hold, if I failed to declare to my constituents my conviction that the times are emi- 
nently critical as to the cast of the great future which is opening upon the Republic. Whether 
that future shall be distinguished by uninterrupted domestic tranquility and a still advancing pros- 
perity, or by discord, civil convulsion, and intestine war, will depend, in a high degree, upon 
the wisdom or the folly which shall mark the passing period. But whatever may come ; what- 
ever questions or conflicts may arise, in giving complexion to the future, the State of Tennessee, 
from her geographical position, and the character of her population— public-spirited, energetic, 
and resolute — can act no subordinate or unimportant part in the drama. I trust that her sons 
•will consider well the course which it will become them to adopt in any exigency which may 
arise — that they will cultivate a spirit of harmony among themselves, and be prepared, when 
the occasion shall demand, to speak with one voice and one purpose. 

I am no ultraist, and favor no extreme measures. A spirit of conciliation and forbearance is 
demanded by patriotism and the exigencies of the times, as well on the part of the South, as on 
that of the North ; but there is a difference between a policy dictated by a spirit of forbearance, 
and a quietism, which may seem to approve, and would, inevitably, invite Eiggression. 

JOHN BELL. 



SPEECH. 



Friday, July 5, 1850. 

The Compromise Bill being still under consideration — 

Mr. BELL continued, as follows: 

Mr. President: Upon a careful consideration of the condition of the 
country at this juncture, and of the intrinsic difficulties of the deeply inter- 
esting questions now presented for our decision, I concur in the sentiment 
of the honorable Senator from Michigan, (General Cass.) I agree with 
him, that we have arrived at a point of time destined to form an epoch in 
our history; one, to which the future historian will refer, and from it deduce 
the causes of our decline as a nation, or, of increased prosperity and gran- 
deur. But I fear I may weary the Senate. 

Several Senators. '^Oh, no!" '^Go on!" ''Go on!" 

Mr. Bell. I do not know that I can say any thing further worthy the 
attention of honorable Senators; but I have had a desire to present some 
general views suggested by, yet not directly connected with the subject, 
which have appeared to me as deserving attention. I am so diffident, how- 
ever, of presenting any views on what may be considered abstract, or merely 
speculative questions, after having already detained the Senate so long, that 
it would, perhaps, be as well to close my remarks here. 

Several Senators. ''Goon!"" "Goon!" 

Mr. Bell. I desired to corroborate the sentiment expressed by the honor- 
able Senator from Michigan (Mr. Cass) on a former day. He said, that 
we had arrived at a period in our history constituting an epoch, from which 
future historians may deduce the causes of decline, or of increased pros- 
perity. I agree with him. I am not sure that 1 do not consider the present 
a crisis of graver interest than, from his manner, I should suppose him to 
do. And if I could have the indulgence of the Senate in turning over a 
few pages of our past history, every one of which I regard as replete with 
valuable instruction, and each suggestive of matter sufficient for an elabo- 
rate speech, I should be much gratified. 

I think, Mr. President; although some have said that there is no danger 
to be apprehended from the present condition of the country, and others have 
endeavored to create a panic, that there is danger, which ought not to be 
unheeded. I believe that the destiny of the Republic, for good or for evil, 
does depend, and in no slight degree, not only upon what we may now do, 
but also upon what we may fail to do. 



Sir, no man who loves his- country ; no man who has any just pride in the 
reflection that he is an American citizen, but must desire that these dissen- 
sions should cease. For, sir, it is not a mere question whether we shall pre- 
serve the Union; for that may be, and yet prove no great boon either to our- 
selves or to posterity. The question is, not whether these States shall con- 
tinue united according to the letter of the covenant by which they are bound 
together. It is, whether they shall continue to be united in heart; whether 
they shall continue to be practically and efficiently co-operative in carrying 
out the great ends of the association. The question is, whether mutual trust 
and confidence shall continue to animate and encourage mutual efforts in 
promoting and multiplying common benefits; or whether mutual hatred and 
distrust shall step in to check all progress; to distract and confound all joint 
endeavors for the common welfare; in fine, to entail upon the country all 
the evils of endless discord. That is the question. And when you present 
that issue to me, I say at once give me separation; give me disunion; give 
me any thing in preference to a Union sustained only by power; by consti- 
tutional and legal ties, without reciprocal trust and confidence. If our future 
career is to be one of eternal discord, of angry crimination and recrimi- 
nation, give me rather separation with all its consequences. If I am to be 
at peace, let it be peace in reality; and if I am to be at war, let me know it 
at once, that I may put my house in order, and be ready to meet the con- 
sequences. So, sir, if I could dictate the course of Congress in the pending 
difficulties, I would say, let the adjustment be made in the real spirit of con- 
cession, compromise, and conciliation. Let us have some assurance that 
the promised harmony shall be permanent. Stay this agitation; allay this 
burning fever that threatens to consume the system. Terminate this painful 
suspense, which is more intolerable than an open rupture. If we of the South 
have made up our minds to yield nothing, to endure nothing; or if a better 
spirit actuates us, and we are prepared both to yield something and endure 
something, and yet, cannot bring our Nortliern brethren to any terms of just 
and equitable arrangement, and they will continue to vex and harass us, 
now and forever, let us resolve, and let them suffer us, to manage our own 
affairs in our own way. * But I trust it will never come to this issue. 

Sir, to suppose that there is one member of this body who is not ready to 
sacrifice — to concede something of his individual sentiments and opinions to 
secure an adjustment of these questions — were he untrammeled by pledges, 
to which he may owe his position here, and which he may not violate with- 
out dishonor; to suppose that there is one man here from the North or the 
South, who is not prepared to sacrifice his individual views to the good of 
his country, were he free to do so, is to suppose him utterly unworthy of 



the station he holds. To suppose that there is one member of this body 
who, upon a cold and selfish calculation of personal interest or advance- 
ment, would insist upoL extreme issues, is to suppose him a wretch who 
does not deserve to live. 

Still it cannot be disguised, that the questions to be decided are beset with 
difRculties and embarrassments on every side. Whatever way we turn, we 
are met by obstacles and opposing interests and influences. To state some 
of the more prominent of these interests and influences may be of use now, 
in our attempt to compose these distracting questions; and, if we should 
happily succeed in our efforts to give present quiet to the country, it may 
prove of some advantage to those who come after us, briefly to review the 
causes, remote and proximate, which have precipitated the present crisis. 

I take the existence of the institution of slavery in a number of contiguous 
States of the Union, composing a somewhat distinct and compact geographi- 
cal group or section, and the non-existence of any such relation or institution 
in an equal or greater number of States, constituting an equally distinct and 
separate group or section, to be the primary cause of the existing embarrass- 
ments and dissensions. But I shall assume this to be an inveterate and in- 
curable disease of our system; one which cannot be eradicated or removed 
without absolute destruction. It was born in the system; it has grown up 
with it; and while the system itself lasts, for any thing we can now descry 
in the future, it must continue to give rise to occasional paroxysms of ex- 
citement and disturbance. The best we can do, will be so to accommodate 
the operation of the system to this inevitable condition of its existence, as to 
keep down inflammation. 

From the nature of this inherent element of dissension, it will be readily 
perceived, that one of the most active influences to be encountered by the 
statesman who desires to preserve our system of government, is the spirit of 
fanaticism, religious and philanthropic. Another not less active, and more 
powerful for mischief, is the spirit of party and the rivalries and jostlings of 
personal ambition. Add to these, sectional jealousies; jealousies of sec- 
tional sway and domination; jealousies springing, in part, from economical 
considerations, naturally incident to a country of such vast extent and of 
somewhat distinct productive capacities and adaptations; jealousies of free 
and slave labor, incident to the distinct and different social relations in the 
two great sections of the Union— and we have before us a general outline of 
the causes which have produced the present disturbances, and of the obsta- 
cles and influences which exist to prevent any satisfactory adjustment of 
them. 

I propose to trace briefly the operation of these elements of discord , during 



8 

a period in whioii many of ihe most distinguished men, now on the stage of 
public life, were conspicuous actors. I propose to confine myself as far as 
possible to a statement of facts; leaving Senators to make their own deduc- 
tions and commentaries. 

Mr. King, (of Alabama.) As the day is oppressively warm, and the Sen- 
ator seems much exhausted, I would suggest that he give way for a motion 
to adjourn, and he can continue his remarks to-morrow. 

Mr. Bell. Not without the unanimous consent of the Senate. 

The question was then taken on the motion of Mr. King' to adjourn, to 
which the Senate agreed unanimously. 



Saturday, July 6, 1850. 

The Compromise bill being again under consideration, Mr. Bell con- 
cluded as follows : 

Mr. President, I am not able to express, in language, the deep sense of 
gratitude I feel to the Senate for the extraordinary indulgence extended to 
me on yesterday, in allowing me to close my remarks this morning. I shall 
endeavor to repay it, by condensing the views I propose to submit, at this 
time, within as small a compass as possible. 

I propose now to resume the review of the operation of certain causes 
peculiar to our system, and of others incident to every republican or free 
government, which appear to me to demand the serious attention of the pa- 
triot statesman at this time, and of every one who holds any position of in- 
fluence or authority in the Government — executive or legislative. 

That there is a spirit of fanaticism at the North, religious and philanthro- 
pic, which closes the heart against all human sympathies not immediately 
connected with the particular object which, for the time, absorbs the atten- 
tion of the subjects of it, cannot be denied. The characteristics of this spe- 
cies of fanaticism I need not describe. They are the same in every age 
and country. The rack, the sword, and the fagot, are the instruments 
which these fanatics are ever ready to employ, when left to themselves in 
the choice of means by which to carry out their plans of reform. It is 
this class of enthusiasts who would be willing to see every dwelling in the 
South in flames ; every field stained with the blood of the master, in the 
execution of their phrenzied schemes for the emancipation of his slaves. 
We have no representatives of this class of fanatics in this Chamber, and 
happily their numbers are not formidable any where. There is another 
class of enthusiasts which cannot be justly called fanatical, but which ex- 
ercises a far more extensive and mischievous influence. These are the sub- 
jects of a morbid sensibility ; recluses — readers and authors of sentimental 



literature, who cannot bear the contemplation of the inevitable ills ant) hard- 
ships of real life, without a shock to their nervous system. They sigh for a 
state of society into which v;-ong and injustice can never enter. Slavery at 
the South becomes the natural and favorite theme of the tongues and pens 
of these sentimentahsts. In addition to these influences, it cannot be 
disguised tiiat there is a deep and abiding anti-slavery sentiment pervading 
all classes at the North — even the more moderate and rational, who are de- 
voted to the Union and would countenance no invasion of the constitutional 
securities and rights of the South. 

But, the fanatics and sentimentalists of the North , with all the countenance 
they receive from the more just and sober-minded opponents of the institu- 
tion of slavery, would not have been able to conjure up this storm, but for 
their alliance with other auxiliary and exciting elements — sectional jealou- 
sies, the interests of parly, and personal ambition. 

There is, Mr. President, a fanaticism of liberty, as well as of religion and 
philanthropy — a fanaticism exhibiting itself in theories which admit no dis- 
tinction of races, and claims for all, a perfect equahty, social and political ; 
theories which reject all practical or useful schemes of government which 
have ever existed, or can be devised. 

The French revolution gave the impetus to this species of fanaticism ; 
and it is a curious fact that the war of 1812, without any forced deduction, 
may be considered as a remote consequence of the politico-fanatic spirit 
which prevailed at an early period of the Administration of General Wash- 
ington — giving a strong coloring to those lines of party division then marked 
out, which continued to exercise a decided influence upon the aflfairs of the 
country for more than twenty years. It is another singular circumstance 
in our history, that this fanatic spirit of liberty, of trans-atlantic origin, be- 
came more widely diffused at the South than at the North. It is a well 
known fact that the Federal Constitution met with the most formidable op- 
position at the South, and chiefly upon the ground that the rights of the 
States and the liberties of the people were not considered as sufficiently 
guarded and secured by its provisions ; while, its strongest support was at 
the North, where the ground was assumed, and more generally inaintained, 
that a less vigorous government w^ould be incompetent to secure the ends 
of rational freedom. Hence, the opponents of the new Constitution took 
the name of Democrats or Republicans; and its supporters that of Federalists. 
And v/hen the causes of contention between Great Britain and the United 
States came to the issue of war, in 1812, the leading men of the country 
were arrayed for and against the wai , mainly upon the principles which gave 
rise to the division of parties upon the adoption of the Constitution. The 



10 

Federal party sympathized with England in the commencement of her 
struggle with France, upon the assumption that it was a contest between 
law, order, and a vigorous practical government, on the one sidej and of 
anarchy and licentiousness on the other. The Republican party, on the 
other hand, regarding the French as the champions of liberty and free gov- 
ernment, and Great Britain as the upholder of despotism and regal authority, 
gave all their sympathies to France. 

The opposite sentiments and opinions, thus imbibed by the great parties 
in this country, continued without change during all the changing phases of 
the protracted warfare between England and France. And thus it hap- 
pened, that the war of 1812 had comparatively but few supporters at the 
North and East, where the Federal or English party, as it has been some- 
times called ; had its chief strength. The strong hold of the Republican , or 
French party, was in the South and West. Nearly all the leading cham- 
pions of the war were from the slave States ; nor could the popular war-cry 
of '^ free trade and sailors' rights" reconcile the section which then enjoyed 
the entire navigating interest, either to its justice or policy. 

Well, sir, at the close of the war in 1815, the old Federal party 
found themselves entirely prostrate. The Republicans were triumphant 
everywhere. The elements of future party conflicts, however, were not 
then wanting. A host of influential chiefs, belonging to the dominant 
party, had established their claims to the public gratitude and confidence in 
the various branches of the civil administration during the war ; but, among 
these, Ave gentlemen claimed pre-eminence — one from the East, (Mr. 
Adams.) three from the South, (Mr. Monroe, Mr. Crawford, and Mr. 
Calhoun,) and one from the West, (Mr. Clay.) Each of these, as was 
natural in a free government, looked to the highest honors of the Republic 
as the proper rewards of his services. They all yielded priority, with what 
grace they could, to Mr. Monroe, a gentleman from Virginia, who had the 
prestige of revolutionary associations. Then came an almost unnatural 
lull in political strife, but it was not of long duration. Before the close of 
Mr. Monroe's first term, the Missouri admission question arose, when a 
gentleman of the Federal party, eminently distinguished for his talents and 
public services, wasthe first to invoke, in this Chamber, thespirit of fanaticism 
and sectional prejudice. He was eminently successful. The North, al- 
most to a man, rose up at his bidding, and came into the support of his 
policy, in resisting the admission of any more slave States. Sir, some of the 
facts connected with this movement deserve particular attention at this time. 
There had been no previous agitation at the North. The movement was 



11 

sudden; spontaneous,, and almost unanimous. The excitement became in- 
tense. Submission, on the part of the South, civil war, or a peaceable sepa- 
ration, seemed, for a time, the only alternatives; so fixed and obstinate 
was the anti-slavery sentiment at the North. Yet Missouri was and had 
been slave territory from the beginning. But this controversy, so threaten- 
ing for a time, was adjusted by a compromise. 

It has been said, in this debate, that in all the controversies between the 
North and the South, the North has had to submit to the terms dictated by 
the South. It is not true. The Missouri compromise was effected by the 
submission of the South — a submission which was regarded, by some, at the 
time, as fatal to the interests of the South ; and it is now but too manifest 
that, if the interests of the South are of such a nature as to demand any 
thing like an equilibrium of power in the Confederacy, then was the time 
for the South to have stood by their rights; then was the accepted time, to 
have made an issue with the growing North. It was during the pendency 
of the Missouri question that we heard, for the first time, of dough-faces. 
The term was then applied to Southern as well as Northern gentlemen — 
Southern men with Northern principles. 

Mr. Clay shook his head. 

Mr. Dawson. It is true. 

Mr. Bell. I make the statement on the authority of tradition and ru- 
mor only. But, however that may be, the South submitted; and Missouri 
was admitted as a slave State by the united vote of the South; and against 
the vote of nearly the entire North. Such was the potency of the anti- 
slavery sentiment at the North, in combination with sectional jealousy and 
the interests of party, at that period. 

This storm hushed; soon afterwards came on the war for the succession 
to Mr. Monroe, between the illustrious champions of the Republican party, 
to whom I have before alluded, and then was reproduced an infuriate spirit 
of party, which has not ceased to afflict the country to this day. It was 
exasperated and rendered more furious by the unexpected and unwelcome 
appearance of a competitor, in the person of a celebrated military chief of 
the southwest, (General Jackson,) whose passionate energies were not likely 
to calm the elements of political strife. 

Well, sir, Mr. Monroe out of the way, there were still five competitors 
in the field for the place of the highest dignity and honor: two from the 
South proper, (Mr. Crawford and Mr. Calhoun,) one from the West proper, 
(Mr. Clay,) one from the Southwest, (General Jackson,) and one from the 
East, (Mr. Adams.) There were four candidates from slave States, against 
one from the East and North. They were all members of the Republican 



12 

party ; nor was there any distinct difference of political principle, or of sectional 
interest, in the contest between them. The old lines of party division had 
become nearly or quite obliterated, and consequently the leaders of the 
Federal party — a formidable, though conquered band — arrayed themselves 
in the canvass, each according to his personal liking or preference. It was 
almost, if not wholly, a contest of mere personal preference, among the 
people. It was soon perceived that the popular feeling ran strongly in 
favor of the military chief, and the youngest, but not the least powerful of 
the southern competitors, (Mr. Calhoun) yielded his pretensions to the first 
honor, as it was understood at the time, in favor of the hero of New Or- 
leans. The contest came at last to be narrowed down between the cham- 
pions of the East and Southwest, (Mr. Adams and General Jackson,) and 
by the favor of the great Western chief (Mr. Clay) and his friends, the 
star of New England shone in the ascendant. But there was no calm in 
the political elements. The struggle for final ascendency became fiercer 
and rather more sectional. The followers of both the retired aspirants from 
the South (Mr. Crawford and Mr. Calhoun) took position on the side of 
the rising fortunes of the military chief; and, with the advantage of the 
admiration for the hero, on the second trial. General Jackson was borne 
into power, over the prostrate fortunes of the favorites of the East and the 
West. 

The result of this contest has had a powerful and lasting influence upon 
the political history and condition of the country. An extraordinary degree 
of personal acrimony was engendered in a competition which turned chiefly 
upon personal preference and attachment on the one side; and personal an- 
tipathy and hatred on the other. These strong passions came to be mutual 
and reciprocal, as between the leaders and followers of both parties; and 
they increased in intensity, until, at last, the politics of the country were re- 
solved into a principle of personal idolatry — a sort of man- worship , on both sides. 
A sentiment of loyalty to a chief, was substituted for patriotism and a regard 
for the interests of the country. The highest public interests were subordi- 
nate considerations; and the support of a favorite political chief, became the 
primary object in the party conflicts of the day. I wish I could say that 
this evil passed away with the conflict which gave it birth, and that it no longer 
afflicts the country. I need scarcely remind the Senate, that it was in this 
memorable conflict that was also engendered, by inevitable consequence, that 
ruthless spirit of indiscriminate party proscription, which continues to be 
the disgrace of American politics. 

The state of things I have described was most inauspicious to a regular, 
harmonious, and constitutional operation of the Government; or, to a wise 



13 

and stable policy in any branch of the public interest or economy. Even 
before the close of the canvass of 1828, sectional interests were seized upon 
as grounds of future party divisions, and the nrjeans of acquiring or of se. 
curing personal pre-eminence; and the overthrow, after an uneasy reign of four 
years, of the only man from the North, who, in a period of near forty years, 
had been raised to the head of the Government, made a deep impression 
upon the North. His expulsion from power was the result, mainly, of a 
combination of the whole South against him; nor could he, nor could 
New England, ever erase that fact from their remembrance. 

The natural fruits and consequences of this condition of the personal 
and sectional politics of the country, were quickly manifested. One of the 
first measures of public policy recommended by General Jackson, after he 
came into power, was the removal of the populous Indian tribes of the South, 
which had so long repressed the growth of the States of that section, to the 
vacant territory beyond the Mississippi. The question was not strictly a 
sectional one, for the same policy was in progress at the Northwest; yet it 
was sufficiently so, to invoke, for the second time, the spirit of fanaticism, 
and whatever of sectional jealousy could be brought to bear upon the question . 

If honorable Senators will take the trouble to examine the files of old 
papers stowed away in the clerks' offices of the two Houses of Congress, 
they will find a mass of memorials, petitions, and remonstrances of women, 
as well as of men, bewailing Indian wrongs, and imploring the interposi- 
tion of Congress in their behalf, quite as voluminous as those which, at a 
later date, have crowded upon Congress on the subject of African slavery. 
Nor will they find the debates upon that subject marked with a less degree 
of pathos and true eloquence — of fierce invective and denunciation of the 
proposed aggression upon the natural and equal rights of the Indians, than 
we hear now, from day to day, upon the subject of the wrongs of the Afri- 
can race in the South. And I will say to those gentlemen of the Senate, 
who have indulged in this strain, upon the question now before us, 
that they will find in those debates some choice flowers of rhetoric yet 
uncuUed, with which, if they are disposed, they can adorn their future 
effusions. 

But the overwhelming popularity of the new Administration, together 
with the community of interest existing, to some extent, at the North, 
in expelling the Indians from their ancient possessions, were an overmatch 
for the ravings of fanaticism, sectional jealousy, and the interest of party. 
The policy of Indian removal was permitted to triumph; and the story of 
Indian wrongs and oppressions has ceased, from that day, to create a sensa- 
tion in any quarter. 



14 

The country, however, had but a brief respite from agitations of the 
most serious character. The new elements of faction and discord, engen- 
dered in the fierce conflict for supreme power which had just terminated, 
continued to develope their natural results. The action of the Government 
became violent and irregular. The extremes of passion, and the intensity 
of personal ambition, which had characterized the preceding canvass, had 
led to excesses in legislation. The tariff of 1828 was regarded as deeply 
injurious and oppressive to the South; and to add to the discontent in that 
quarter, General Jackson committed, what I thought then, and still think, 
a capital blunder. He dismissed from his confidence, and drove into op- 
position, the only remaining, but powerful Southern chief, (Mr. Calhoun,) 
and took under his patronage and training for the succession to himself, a 
gentleman from the North, but of very different character and pretensions. 
So far as the location of a successor was concerned, the policy was wise 
enough; but a more skilful and experienced statesman would have con- 
ciliated the two rival chiefs among his own followers; and so have balanced 
his favors between them as to have preserved their united influence in ad- 
justing all the embarrassing questions likely to arise under his administra- 
tion. The result of the opposite policy was, undoubtedly, to precipitate a 
crisis in public affairs, which threatened for a time domestic convulsion and 
the disruption of the Union. A sense of personal injury to a favorite chief 
was added to the sense of sectional grievance, which already existed at the 
South. The energies of a great intellect were concentrated in a great sec- 
tional movement. He was sustained by a band of devoted followers, who, 
for talent and all the elements of popular influence and control , have never 
been surpassed in this country. They succeeded in stirring afresh all the 
smouldering embers of original opposition to the Constitution in the South. 
The States of the North were represented, and believed by thousands, to 
be the exclusive beneficiaries of the system. The issue was essentially a 
sectional one; and then, I believe, for the first time, in the mutual crimi- 
nations of the North and the South, was the offensive and inauspicious 
question of the relative claims of free and slave labor to the fostering care 
of the Government, introduced into our public discussions. The contro- 
versy between the North and the South, at that period, was further aggra- 
vated, and the Union brought into imminent jeopardy, by the revival of an 
old theory — of the right of a State to nullify the legislation of the Federal 
Government; and, although that extreme remedy received the solemn sanc- 
tion of but one State, and that not of the largest class, yet such was the 
appreciation of the disasters to the Union , which a resort to arms in main- 
taining the authority of the Federal Government in that single State, might 



15 

bring in its train, that a compromise was proposed and acquiesced in — a 
compromise which was, in fact, a defeat of Northern policy. The South- 
ern movement against the protective policy was crowned with success. 

Well, sir, the country had a brief repose upon the termination of this con- 
troversy; but the causes of future discord between the North and (he South 
were deeply laid in the nature of the discussions which preceded the ad- 
justment, and in the terms of the adjustment itself. Northern interests 
were felt to have been sacrificed to Southern dictation and exaction; while 
at the South, the sentiments of jealousy and distrust of the Northern policy 
continued unabated, and disaffection to the Constitution was more widely 
diffused. Unhappily, before the passions naturally connected with the late 
conflict between Northern and Southern interests had time to settle down, 
the slave emancipation movement commenced in England. The contagion 
crossed the Atlantic with electric speed, and the abolition movement at the 
North soon began to attract attention. 

It is not my purpose to trace, in detail, the causes which have contribu- 
ted to extend the influence of that movement; nor to inquire from what 
natural connexion and instincts the religion and literature of the North have 
lent their powerful co-operation; but there is one point connected with the 
growth of the abolition sentiment in that section, which I cannot pass over 
without some notice. For the reasons I have already stated, it may be con- 
ceived that the movements and designs of the abolitionists should tend to 
confirm, and add new converts to the theory, that Southern interests can 
never be secure under the existing constitution of the Union. The conse- 
quence was, that the mode of resistance resorted to by the Representatives 
of the South in Congress was rather calculated to inflame and strengthen 
the abolition movement, than to defeat its progress. It happened in this case, 
as in all others of great excitement, and where great interests are involved, 
that those who were most zealous and disposed to adopt the greatest ex- 
tremes, controlled the more moderate and judicious. Assuming it as a 
clear proposition, that Congress had no constitutional power to abolish 
slavery in the District of Columbia, Southern gentlemen, in resisting the 
abolition movement, made their first stand, m opposition to the right of 
petition. This was, in my judgment, a mistaken policy in those who 
desired to repress agitation, or to defeat the designs of the abolitionists. 
The right of petition, upon all subjects, in popular estimation, has a tra- 
ditionary sacredness, in this country, which renders it dangerous to ques- 
tion or deny it in any but the clearest cases of abuse or misapplication. 
Hence it was, that thousands at the North, (a gentleman near me says tens 
of thousands,) who had never before countenanced the schemes of the abo- 



16 

litionistSjfirsl became their allies and coadjulorsin defenceof what they regard- 
ed as a sacred right; and when further irritated and excited by the continu- 
ed opposition of (he South, by an easy and natural advance, they became 
hearty co-operators in all their views. By this large accession to the ranks 
of the original promoters of the abolition movement, they were in sufficient 
force, in some of the States, to materially influence the results of elections; 
and the consequence has been, that the politicians in the ranks of the two 
great parties, ever eagle-eyed and ready to avail themselves of the support 
of every new ally, in their attempts to propitiate the favor of the abolition- 
ists, imparted an importance and energy to their policy, which could never, 
under other circumstances, have been attained. From that time forth, at 
the South, as well as at the North, any alliance with; or opposition to, the 
cause of abolition by one or the other of the two parties, came to be care- 
fully noted, and has been the fruitful source of agitation in all elections. 

But the anti-slavery movement at the North had not acquired sufficient 
force to be felt in the election of the successor to General Jackson. Mr. Van 
Buren, it is well known, was borne into power upon (he overwhelming tide 
of his predecessor's popularity; nor did the agitations upon this subject, north 
or south, have any material influence in the decision of the election of 
1840, by which Mr. Van Buren was driven from power; but still, the sen- 
timents of both himself and his successful opponent were carefully scrutiniz- 
ed. Mr. Van Buren, it will be recollected, expressed, in the course of the 
canvass, a decided opposition to the policy and purposes of the abolitionists; 
and so did his competitor. General Harrison. Nor is it probable that the 
anti-slavery movement would have acquired any mischievous influence, 
beyond the occasional abduction of slaves from their masters, on the borders 
of the slave and free States, and in the obstructions sometimes thrown in 
the way of the recapture of fugitives, but for the extraordinary series of 
events which followed upon the unfortunate demise of General Har- 
rison. By that sad event, within a month after his accession to power, 
the Executive administration of the country fell into the hands of a gen- 
tleman from Virginia, (Mr. Tyler,) of whom I do not care to speak, 
further than to say, that, before the close of his term of office, he entertain- 
ed the project of annexing Texas to the United States, either upon his own 
suggestion, or upon that of those gentlemen from the South who had ac- 
quired his confidence. The general, though by no means the universal senti- 
ment of the slave States, was favorable to the policy of annexation, as a 
means of preserving that equilibrium of power between the free and the slave 
States, so often adverted to in this debate. And,of this idea of an equilibrium, 
let me say, that I think much more favorably than my friend from Illinois, 



17 

(IVIr. Shields.) If I had time I should like to elaborate this point; and I 
would substitute equilibrium for compromise, the favorite theme of so many 
gentlemen with whom equilibrium finds no favor. We have heard a great 
deal of the compromise of principles, opinions, and interests, which led to 
the adoption of the Constitution. Life itself, from the cradle to the grave, 
has been said to be a compromise, between good and evil. But when we 
speak of governments, equilibrium is a better word than compromise. No 
system of government, except a despotic one, can stand, unless some ap- 
proximation to an equilibrium of interests and influences, powers and privi- 
leges, is established and observed. This is a condition, on which society, 
and voluntary associations of every form, depends. It is of almost univer- 
sal application in physics as well as in morals. An equilibrium of forces 
and of contrary tendencies, is supposed to be the principle upon which the 
universe is upheld. So rigorous is nature, in her laws upon this subject, 
that some philosophers have conjectured, that a single atom displaced, would 
be sufficient to wreck a world. The fiercest and most angry forms in 
which nature exhibits herself, is the consequence of a disturbance of that 
equipoise of the elements of which the physical world is composed. So, in 
government, and especially in a government of moral forces and influences 
like ours — in a representative government, with universal suffrage — let the 
just equilibrium of interests and influences be materially disturbed; let a 
majority, without any direct interest, without traditionary reverence for our 
institutions, without national affinity or sympathy, ever decidedly prepon- 
derate — from that moment, the ballot-box, instead of a security, becomes aii 
engine for the destruction of the existing rights and objects of society; and 
disorganization, social and political, or a government of physical force, be- 
come the only alternatives. It is for the North to look to this; it is for the 
North as well as the South, to calculate the value of this idea of a necessary 
equilibrium in governments. But this is a digression into which I have 
been led by seeing my friend from Illinois (Mr. Shields) before me. I 
return to my narrative. 

Mr. President, when I was tempted to a digression, I was remarking that 
the Southern sentiment was generally favorable to the project of annexing 
Texas, but it was not by any means unanimous. It is well known that a 
very resp ectable minority of the South , in view of the evils which they foresaw 
the success of the project would bring upon the country, were decidedly and 
strenuously opposed to it. 

From the moment the poUcy of President Tyler and his Cabinet became 
public, it was foreseen that, in the ensuing contest for the succession, the 
project of annexing Texas would become a material issue between the rival 
2 



18 

candidates. Of the Democratic party,, there were, at that time, several 
leading gentlemen of the North who had their supporters and partisans for 
the nomination; but the favorite and most prominent was Mr. Van Buren, 
who had been rather unceremoniously thrust out of power at the close of a 
single term; and the general expectation was that he would be selected by 
his party. This gentleman, when called upon for his views on the question 
of annexing Texas, frankly declared his opposition; as did, about the same 
time, the distinguished Senator from Kentucky, (Mr. Clay,) to whom the 
Whigs at that period looked with uncommon unanimity as their candidate. 
It is not for me to conjecture how it was, and by what management or in- 
fluences, Mr. Van Buren was set aside by the Democratic convention which 
assembled at Baltimore in 1844, and a distinguished citizen of my own 
State was unexpectedly chosen as the Democratic candidate; but I may 
speak of what was soon afterwards announced to the public through the 
Democratic prints, and on the hustings, as the grounds upon which they 
based their hopes of success in the election; and from which we may infer, 
at least, one of the controlling considerations which led to that singular re- 
sult. It was announced, that the annexation of Texas being made a cardi- 
nal point of Democratic policy, the united support of the South might be 
relied upon, in favor of the Democratic candidate. But, whatever may have 
been the effect of the twin policy of securing the immediate occupation of 
all Oregon, simultaneously announced, in reconciling the North to the 
pohcy of annexing Texas, it is certain, that the announcement of the new 
Democratic platform was received , in that section, with some surprise by both 
Democrats and Whigs. It was clear to the understanding of both parties at 
the North, that Southern influences and Southern management had con- 
trolled the nomination. A Southern candidate had been chosen, and all 
the more prominent gentlemen of the party at the North had been set aside. 
Well, sir, the force of party interests and discipline prevailed against all 
heart-burnings, and all jealousy of Southern domination; even against the 
anti-slavery feeling at the North. Not a single State, counted upon as 
Democratic, failed in its support of the Democratic candidate; and Mr. Polk 
was elected President of the United States. 

There was one incident connected with this strange eventful story, so re- 
markable, that, though not strictly connected with the purpose of my nar- 
rative, I cannot omit to notice. It was said at the time, and I suppose truly 
said, that a considerable number of the abolitionists in New York were de- 
tached from the support of the Whig candidate, by the interposition of one 
or more of their leaders; but upon what construction of their duty and fideli- 
ty to their creed, 1 could never comprehend, unless upon the one avowed 



19 

at the time — which was, that the principles of Democracy, if faithfully car- 
ried out, necessarily lead to the abolition of slavery. I refer to this circum- 
stance in the election of 1S44 with no invidious purpose; nor by any means 
do I desire to say any thing offensive to my Democratic friends in this cham- 
ber; for I must do them the justice to say, that I have seen nothing in the 
course of their distinguished leaders here, to justify the imputation of abo- 
lition sentiments to them. I refer to it, to show that the doctrine of ihe per- 
fect equality of rights, social and political, accorded to, and claimed for all 
races and conditions of mankind, by the principles of pure Democracy, as 
expressed in the favorite watchwords. Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, is 
one of the distracting elements of the times, which the North as well as the 
South may well look to. 

But, it is more to my purpose, to state, that the consummation of the policy 
of annexing Texas speedily followed the advent of Mr. Polk to power; and 
that, faithful to his engagements with his Northern friends, he prosecuted the 
claim of the United Slates to the whole of Oregon with a vigor which well 
nigh involved the country in a war with Great Britain. But that danger 
passed, and the possession of Oregon with its present boundaries secured — 
either from the necessities of his position, or upon some calculation of glory , 
or other and more substantial benefits to be acquired, he, unhesitatingly, and 
with the cordial support of his followers, north and south, plunged his coun- 
try into a war with Mexico; indicating from the commencement, by cir- 
cumstances unmistakable, that it would not be terminated without a further 
acquisition of territory. When that purpose became manifest to the public, 
it arrested the attention, and aroused the jealousy of the whole North. The 
annexation of Texas just consummated, accompanied by a stipulation for the 
admission of three or four slave States to be carved out of her territory; and 
then, following close upon the heels of that measure, a scheme for the further 
acquisition of territory in the same quarter, gave new activity to every anti- 
slavery sentiment and prejudice at the North; imparted increased fierceness to 
the spirit of fanaticism; revived every dormant passion of jealousy or resent- 
ment which had, in times past, been engendered by the triumph of the South 
over Northern men and Northern policy. The consequence was, an imme- 
diate and almost unanimous declaration of the free States, that whatever ac- 
quisition of territory might be the result of the war, should be/ree territory. 

At the South it is well known, that while the Whigs were opposed both 
to the war itself and the policy of further acquisition, the Democratic 
party, north and south, were earnest in the support of both. But with 
what wisdom, or with what particular views of Southern interests, the acqui- 
sition of territory was insisted upon by Southern gentlemen, in the face of 



20 

the declaration of the North, that whatever might be acquired should be 
free, is yet a mystery to me. It is fair to presume, however, that a variety 
of motives had their] influence upon the course of the Southern Democ- 
racy upon this subject; and, among others, party interests and conside- 
rations. The war, besides the vast resources of patronage which it had 
placed at the disposal of the Democratic administration, might be expected 
to give such a degree of eclat to the party ident'fied with its success, as to 
secure its permanent ascendency; but to terminate it, after such a vast ex- 
penditure of blood and treasure, with nothing to strike the imagination, or 
fix the popular admiration, except the glare of military achievement, might 
defeat all their expectations of continued party ascendency. Another and 
more creditable motive, with many of the distinguished leaders, doubtless was, 
to give additional strength and protection to the slaveholding States; not 
doubting that the justice of the North, notwithstanding tiieir repeated dec. 
larations to the contrary, would finally accord to the South a fair proportion 
of the new acquisitions, to be held as slave territory. But whatever may 
have been tiie motives of Southern gentlemen, thepolicy of further acquisi- 
tion was insisted on and consummated; and the consequences are before us 
and around us, in all their magnitude and fearful bearings. A little more 
than two years ago we were in the midst of a sanguinary war with a neigh- 
boring republic. Now, at peace wiih all the world without, we are in the 
midst of a dangerous and hateful strife within, and among ourselves. 

At the close of that series of measures and results concocted and set on 
foot by the Democratic convention in 1844, marked by the treaty of Guada- 
lupe Hidalgo, the area of the Republic was perceived to have been enlarged, 
one-third, beyond its former extent. A vast region, of unknown and bound- 
less fertility and resources, was supposed to bethrov/n open to the enterprise 
of our citizens; and, under the influence of the vivid prospects of future 
prosperity and grandeur, these amazing results — achieved in the short space 
of four years — })ainted to the imagination, the popular feeling, despite all 
forebodings and warnings of impending evil, rose to enthusiasm. Peeans 
were sung in honor of the foresight, the wisdom, and ilie energy of the au- 
thors of a policy, at once so grand and successful. The Democracy, north 
and south, congratulated themselves upon their brilliant achievements for 
the country , and upon the prospects of continued and permanent power 
which dawned upon them. It was not long before they perceived that all 
their well-laid schemes of party aggrandizement were likely to fail them. 
Disaffection — open, undisguised, and formidable — showed itself in their 
ranks; and the Southern Democracy, especially, began to suspect, that in 
the acquisition of California and New Mexico, they had got what they did 



21 

not expect, and did not want — a vast accession of territory in whioii slavery 
was practically forbidden by the unalterable laws of nature, if not by human 
laws; and, so far as the preservation of an equilibrium of power between 
the North and the South was important to the protection of Southern inter- 
ests, they found they had struck a blow which might prove fatal to those in- 
terests. They had insisted upon the immediaie annexation of Oregon, and 
thereby'provided for the future admission of two, if not four, new free Slates 
into the Union. California and New Mexico they perceived were likely to 
increase the preponderance of the North, by at least four additional free States; 
and how to retrieve this unfortunate result of the war and acquisition policy, 
is the problem to be solved by them; while the more momentous question 
is presented to the whole country, without distinction of section or political 
creed— how the Union shall be secured, in peace and harmony, against 
the peril, to which a mistaken policy, and the excesses of party, have ex- 
posed it. 

I here close the review of the past, which I proposed. And if, in the 
sketch of the late acquisition of territory, I have seemed to press the idea, 
that the gentlemen of the Democratic party, and particularly those of the 
South, are chiefly responsible for the present embarrassing and dangerous 
state of aflfairs, I beg to say, that I have in view no party purpose. I have 
desired only to present a. faithful outline of those causes of disturbance to 
our system, and of the present dissensions, which I had undertaken to do. 
The question now to be adjusted, and the interests to be protected and 
guarded, are too important to be made the subject of party calculations. 
I am a Southern man in interests and sympathy; and no true son of the 
South or Southwest can allow his party associations or interests to sway his 
judgment, or direct his course upon questions deeply affecting the common 
welfare; and, whoever may be responsible for the past, all must be respon- 
sible for the future. I have said, on a former day, that, to give content to 
the South, whatever might be my individual opinions of the value of these 
new Territories, and of the chances that slavery would, under any circum- 
stances, be introduced into any part of them, I was prepared to have sus- 
tained the Missouri compromise, taken in its true spirit, as the basis of an 
adjustment of the pending questions. I have also said, and I repeat the 
statement, that, in my opinion, had such a proposition been presented and 
sustained by the leading advocates of the measure now under considera- 
tion, it could have been pressed to a successful conclusion. And, sir, let 
me say to my Northern friends, on this side of the chamber, that, though 
no special favor may seem to be due from them to those of the South, who, 
in defiance of the repeated protests of the North against tlie extension of 



22 

slave territory, insisted upon the acquisition of these territories; yet, to re- 
member, that the policy of those acquisitions was opposed by a respectable 
portion of the Southern people; and, that many of the most leading 
Southern gentlemen, in Congress and out of it, foreseeing the evil conse- 
quences to the whole country, which would probably, if not inevitably fol- 
low, opposed themselves manfully and resolutely to the current of senti- 
ment in the South, and resisted the annexation of Texas, as well as the 
acquisition of California and New Mexico . They may , also, well remember, 
that, without the co-operation of the North itself, these distracting questions 
would never have been heard of. The North, too, would, and did insist 
upon these new acquisitions. I cannot forbear further to remind my North-, 
em friends, that, in the South and Southwest, there is a body of men who, 
for a long period, have continued faithful and just to them; sustaining them, 
in their favorite policy, through every vicissitude of political fortune; a body 
of men of liberal and catholic views of national policy, who look beyond 
the limited horizon of local interests, spurn the influence of sectional 
prejudice, and embrace the whole Union as their common country. 

I am not to be deluded, Mr. President, by the appeals from the North, 
upon the subject of human wrongs and the violation of human rights. I 
am not to be misled, as to the true grounds of the anti-slave-exten- 
sion policy of the North, by the fine sentiments so often expressed on 
the subject of freedom and the claitns of humanity. I know, sir, that, 
however sincere and conscientious the anti-slavery sentiment at the North 
may be, neither the cause of freedom, nor a sentiment of humanity, is the 
active principle of the con-extension policy of the North. Were it pro- 
posed by the South to impose the chains of servitude upon a single human 
being now free, there is no man living to whom such a proposition would 
be more revolting than to myself. But, sir, humanity to the slave, not less 
than justice to the master, recommends the policy of diffusion and exten- 
sion into any new territory adapted to his condition; and the reasons are too 
obvious to be misunderstood by die dullest intellect. No, sir, it is not a 
principle of humanity that dictates the anti-extension policy of the North. 
It is deeply founded in the ambition of sectional ascendency,* dictated, in 
part, by the jealousy of Southern influence and control, and the recollec- 
tion of the long line of Southern chiefs who have succeeded to the Execu- 
tive mantle. These are the interests and passions which, more than any 
others, have decided the policy of the North upon this subject. But, how- 
ever natural and inevitable the existence of such passions and influences, 
under the peculiar circumstances of our system, let me invoke the forbear- 
ance of my Northern friends, if not their justice, by some consideration for 



23 

the passions and sensibilities naturally incident to the South, under the 
prospect of their declining power and influence in the Confederacy, which 
now stares them in the face. While that protracted domination of the South, 
which has been so long and so keenly felt at the North, was always more 
imaginary than real — ^no Southern man having ever attained the Presidency 
except by the concurrence of oftentimes more than half, and always of a 
large division of the North — yet now, it cannot be disguised that the period 
of Southern ascendency, if it ever had a real existence, approaches its ter- 
mination. Political power and ascendency, in a sectional view, have, in- 
deed, already passed away from the South, forever. And this is so mani- 
fest, that a Senator, who spoke in this debate, could not forbear taunting 
the South with the prospect of their declining fortunes. 'A great change 
had taken place in the political vocabulary.' "It is no longer," he exult- 
ingly exclaims, ''the South and the North; it is now the jVor^/^ and the 
South." The South, Mr. President, needs not to be reminded by the tri- 
umphant North of her decayed power. And when the people of the South 
have, in prospect, the admission of eight or ten additional free States, in 
rapid succession, without the equivalent of a single slave State, the North 
should know how to excuse the restlessness of their Southern brethren; and 
feel no surprise that they should be looking around for some new guaran- 
tee — some additional protection, to their peculiar condition and institutions. 

But, sir, as to myself, I shall hold fast to the Constitution until I shall 
see that it no longer interposes a barrier to absolute aggression; and I trust 
that some final adjustment of all these distracting questions will yet be de- 
vised and adopted, upon a basis so just and reasonable, as not only to stay 
the progress of disaffection, but to furnish to the world the highest evidence, 
that no diversity of local institutions, or of sectional interests, or any other 
cause of occasional dissension, will ever be so powerful for mischief, as to 
sunder the ties which now bind us together as one people. 

Mr. President, I cannot conclude my remarks without taxing the indul- 
gence of the Senate yet further, in saying a few words upon the subject 
of that institution, for the extension of which to the new Territories some 
gentlemen manifest so great a horror. It has been denounced in this de- 
bate as a great moral and political evil; as a grievous wrong and oppression 
to the race which are the subjects of it; a blight and a curse to the country 
which tolerates it, and a sin upon the consciences of the masters individ- 
ually. To impart additional gravity to these denunciations, it is announced 
that the civilized world is arrayed against slavery. I am identified with this 
so much abused institution, by my representative position in this chamber, 
in association, in character, and in responsibility to the tribunal of public 



24 

sentiment. It is, therefore, natural that I should desire to take some brief 
notice of this accusing spirit of my Northern countrymen. 

It is but justice to the section, in which this institution prevails, to state 
that, from the origin of the Government we now enjoy, there are and have 
been hundreds, not to say thousands, in that section, who have regarded 
the institution of slavery as contrary to the precepts of religion, and to the 
dictates of natural justice. To attest the truth of this statement, I need not 
invoke the testimony of illustrious names of the present, or of the past. It 
is sufficient to point to the numerous instances, at this day, in which slave- 
holders, in the full possession of health as well as in the article of death — 
the policy of the State in which they reside allowing the privilege, — eman- 
cipate their slaves, and often deprive their children of the patrimony which 
they had been taught to expect. 

Now, sir, after these prehminary remarks, I proceed briefly to refer to the 
history of African slavery in the United States; its present condition; its ef- 
fects upon the slaves themselves, and upon the country, of which it is so 
striking a feature. 

For the purposes of my argument, the origin and progress of slavery in 
the United States may be briefly narrated. Without pretending to accura- 
cy of detail, it may be stated with sufficient conformity to historical fact, 
that some century and a half ago, or a little more, a few thousand natives 
of Africa, in form and mind stamped only with the coarsest rudiments of 
the Caucasian race; scarcely bearing the impress of ihe human face divine; 
savage in their habits, both of war and of peace; ferocious as the wild 
beasts of their own native haunts, were caught up, transported to these 
shores, reduced to a state of bondage, and they and their descendants held 
in slavery until this day. But what do we now behold? These few thou- 
sand savages have become a great people — numbering three millions of 
souls; civilized; christianized; each new generation developing some im- 
proved features, mental and physical, and indicating some further approx- 
imation to the race of their masters. Search the annals of all history, and 
where do you find a fact so striking and wonderful; one, so worthy the con- 
templation of the philosopher, the statesman, the Christian, and the phi- 
lanthropist? This great fact stands out boldly before the world; and in the 
impressive language of the Senator from Missouri, (Mr. Benton,) it 
stands for an answer; and it must ever stand for an answer. Sir, it can 
never be successfully answered. Has humanity cause to drop a tear over 
the record of this great fact? Has Africa any cause to mourn? 

But there are some other and subordinate facts, fairly deducible from the 
greater and more prominent one, which may likewise defy contradiction or 



25 

answer. The rapid multiplication and improved lineaments of this people, 
attest the fact, that the yoke of bondage has pressed but lightly upon them; 
and that they have shared freely, with their masters, of the fat of the land. 
Go, I repeat, and search the pages of h'story, and where will you find a 
fact comparable to this? The history of the Hebrew bondage presents no 
parallel — nothing so wonderful. The family of Jacob (the germ of the 
Hebrew nation) were of a superior race, and civilized. There is one sin- 
gular analogy, however, besides that of bondage, which may be traced in 
the history of these two people. While the religious institutions of the 
one forbade any amalgamation, social or political, with their masters and 
surrounding nations; nature, by laws more stringent and inexorable, forbids 
to the other any equality, social or political, with the race which holds 
them in bondage. 

What is to be the destiny of this singular people , now so rapidly multiplying 
in our midst; whether, as some suppose, at some future period, when their 
faculties shall be further developed and improved, and when subsistence 
shall tread too closely upon the heels of production, they shall become the 
sole possessors of the country which has been the scene of their toils — of 
their joys and their sorrows; whether they are destined to mark another 
great epoch in thehistory of mankind, by a second exodus; whether, under 
the lead of some second Moses, they are destined, as some imagine, to ris& 
up with their little ones, and, after journeying for years over the intermediate 
space, to found an empire of their own in the measureless wilds of the 
great southern Continent; or whether, as others believe, with greater 
show of reason, by the aid of the amazing facilities of steam navigation, 
they are destined to cross the Atlantic, and to become the conquerors and 
civilizers of their now savage countrymen in the land of their progenitors, 
can only be known to the Great Master of all mankind — to Him who 
hoids in his hands the destinies of all races and conditions of men, bond 
and free. 

But, whatever the future may disclose, it is clear that this people are not 
prepared for any great change in their condition at the present time, nor at 
any approximate period. 

As to the lawfulness or sinfulness of the institution of slavery; — whatever 
phrenzied or fanatic priests, or more learned and rational divines may preach; 
whatever they may affirm of Christian precepts, of moral and religious 
duties and responsibilities; whatever interpretation of the law of nature, or 
of Almighty God, they may announce; whatever doctrines or theories of 
the equality of human rights, and of the different races of mankind, diver- 
sified as they are by complexion, by physical formation and mental devel- 



26 

opment, infidel philanthiopists, or the disciples of a transcendental creed of 
any kind, may hold or teach; however they may dogmatize upon this hy- 
pothesis, and declare it to be a violation of the law of nature, for any one 
race, with whatever superiority of mental or physical faculties they may be 
endued, to subjugate those of an inferior grade, and make them the instru- 
ments of improvement and amelioration in their own condition, as well as 
in that of their masters or conquerors, in carrying forward the great work of 
civilization — until we shall be enlightened by revelation from a higher source 
than themselves, I must claim the privilege of interpreting the law of nature 
by what I see revealed in the history of mankind from the earliest period of 
recorded time, uncontradicted by Divine authority. I must interpret that 
law according to the prominent facts connected with the subject, as they 
have stood out in the past, and as they stand out before us at this day. 
Looking through the eyes of history, I have seen slavery or involuntary 
servitude, the handmaid of Hindoo, Egyptian, Assyrian, Jewish, Greek 
and Roman civilization. I have seen the institution recognised by the 
theocratic government of the Jews, — the chosen depositaries of the Word 
OP Life;— by democratic Athens, and republican Rome. I have seen, 
upon the overthrow of Roman civilization by the savage hordes of the 
north, that those new masters of western Europe and their successors, 
adopted, and continued to uphold the same institution, under various modi- 
fications, adapted to the changing condition of both slave and master, and 
still under an advancing civilization, until a comparatively recent period. 
I see the same institution tolerated and maintained in eastern Europe, at 
this day. I see the native race of all British India, at this moment, 
bowing the neck under a system of quasi slavery. But above all, I have 
seen here,— on this continent, and in these United States, the original lords 
of the soil subdued— some of them reduced to slavery, others expelled, 
driven out, and the remnant still held in subordination; and all this, under 
an interpretation of the law of nature, which holds good at this day among 
our northern brethren: and I have yet in reserve that great fact to which 
I have already alluded— three millions of the African race, whose labor is 
subject to the will of masters, under such circumstances that their condition 
cannot be changed, though their masters should will it, without destruction 
alike to the interests and welfare of both master and slave. These are the 
lights by which I read and interpret the law of nature. 

Now, sir, permit me to say a few words upon the effects of this institution 
upon the country which tolerates it. To the great fact, to which I have 
more than once alluded, conjoined with the system of equal laws which 
our ancestors brought with them to these shores, perfected and consolidated 



27 

at the Revolution, and by the adoption of the present form of Union, we 
are indebted — the world is indebted, for that other great phenomenon in 
the history of the rise and progress of nations; a phenomenon, in all its bear- 
ings, not yet fully comprehended by the nations of the Old World, nor 
even by ourselves; and which, in all future time, will be the study and ad- 
miration of the historian and the philosopher: I mean, not the founding of a 
republic on these shores, so recently the abode only of savage and nomadic 
tribes, but its amazing growth and development; its magic-like spring, from 
small beginnings — rising, as it were, by a single effort, by one elastic bound , 
into all the attributes of a first-rate power; a great republican empire — able 
not only to maintain its rights of sovereignty and independence, by land 
and sea, against a hostile world; but, at the same time, by its example, 
shaking to their foundations the despotic powers of the earth; a great incor- 
poration of freedom, dispensing its blessings to all mankind. Sir, the fabled 
birth of Minerva, leaping in full panoply from the head of Jove, if a truth, 
and no fiction, would scarcely be more wonderful, or a greater mystery, 
without the clue which Afiican slavery furnishes for the solution of it. 

Sir, making all due allowances for American enterprise and the energies 
of free labor, with all the inspiring advantages of our favorite system of go- 
vernment, I doubt whether the power and resources of this country would 
have attained more than half their present extraordinary proportions, but for 
this so much reviled institution of slavery. Sir, your rich and varied com- 
merce, external and internal; your navigation; your commercial marine, the 
nursery of the military; your ample revenues; the public credit; your 
manufactures; your rich, populous, and splendid cities — all, all may trace 
to this institution as the well-spring of their present gigantic proportions; — 
nourished and built up to their present amazing height and grandeur by the 
great staples of the South — the products of slave labor. 

Yet, slavery, in every form in which it has existed from the primitive pe- 
riod of organized society — from its earliest and patriarchal form to this time, 
in every quarter of the globe — and all its results — even the magnificent re- 
sults of Afiican slavery in the United States, are declared to be against the 
law of nature. Though contributing in a hundred varied forms and modes, 
through a peiiod of thousands of years, to the amelioration of the condition 
of mankind generally; though sometimes abused and perverted, as all hu- 
man institutions, even those of religion, are — still contributing to advance the 
cause of civilization; though, if you please, having its origin in individual 
cupidity, still mysteriously working out a general good; — yet slavery and 
all its beneficent results, are pronounced to be against the will of God, by 
those who claim a superior illumination upon the subject. This may be 



28 

so; but I must say that this conclusion; so confidently announced, is not ar- 
rived at, in accordance witli the Baconian method of reasoning, by which 
we are taught, that, from a great many particular and well established facts 
in the physical economy, we may safely deduce a general law of physical 
nature; and so of morals and government. It seems to my weak faculties, 
that it is rather an arrogant and presumptuous arraignment of the ways of 
Providence, mysterious as we know them to be, for feeble man to declare, 
that ihat which has been permitted to exist and prosper from the beginning, 
among men and nations, is contrary to its will. 

But whoever has studied, to much purpose, the history of civilization, the 
progress of society — of laws and government — must have perceived, that cer- 
tain abstract or theoretic truths, whether in civil or religious polity, have 
been, and can only, with safety to the ultimate ends of all societies and go- 
vernments, be unfolded by degrees, and adjusted at every step, according to 
the advance of society from its infancy to a higher civilization and a more 
enlightened comprehension — such as the equality of natural rights and privi- 
leges, the rights of self-government, and freedom of speech and opinion. 
These general truths, though they cannot be successfully controverted at this 
day, yet, as they have been seldom admitted, in their length and breadth, 
in the practical operations of government with success, some law-givers 
have been led to deny that they are founded in reason; and when they have, 
at any time, been suddenly embraced by the controlling minds among a peo- 
ple, the misfortune has been that they were applied in excess, and without 
due regard to the actual condition of the people who were to be affected: and 
hence they have, so far, failed of success in some of the most highly civi- 
lized nations of Europe. But it is more to the point to refer to the emanci- 
pation of the slaves of St. Domingo; one of the first explosive effects of the 
sudden recognition of the rights of man by the French people. It would 
be diflScult to demonstrate, at this day, that the cause of humanity, or of hu- 
man progress, has been, in the slightest degree, promoted by the abolition of 
slavery in that fertile and beautiful island. It is, I believe, now, pretty 
well understood, that British statesmen committed an error in the policy of 
West India emancipation, forced upon them by fanatical reformers. They 
were driven to adopt a sentiment, instead of practical truth, as the foundation 
of a radical change in the social condition of a people, who were not pre- 
pared either to appreciate or profit by it. Even the reformation in religion 
and church government, commenced some three centuries ago, in the opin- 
ion of many of the most profound inquirers, has failed of that complete suc- 
cess which ought to have attended it, for the reason that the general truths 
and principles upon which it was founded were applied in excess. The 



29 

zealous champions of reform, in throwing aside all ceremonies and obser- 
vances which affect the senses, and in spirituahzing too much, there is rea- 
son to beheve, have stayed the progress of substantial reform, and checked 
the spread of religious restraints upon the evil passions of men. But this is 
a delicate subject, and I must forbear. 

These examples may show, that there are certain abstract truths and prin- 
ciples, which, however incontrovertible in themselves, like every other good 
thing, may be, and often are, misconceived and abused in their application. 
It is the business of statesmen, in every country, to apply them with safety, 
and to give them the utmost practical influence and effect consistent with the 
existing state of society. The most interesting illustration of this sentiment, 
and the most striking example of the superiority of practical truth over theo- 
retic axioms, in the formation of government, to be found in all history — and 
one which claims the special attention of the people of this country at this 
moment — was exhibited by our ancestors, when, with their ov,^n recognition 
of the abstract truth of the equality of natural rights still vibrating on their 
tongues, they yet fearlessly set their seals to a covenant of union between these 
States, containing an express recognition of African slavery. I say express 
recognition; because, whatever[the Jesuitical doctors of the North may say, the 
clauses in the Constitution relating to the importation of persons under certain 
limitations, and fixingthebasisof direct taxes and representation in Congress, 
I affirm, do amount to an express recognition of slavery. 

But honorable Senators announce, that we have arrived at a period in the 
progress of society and of general civilization, when all these theoretic prin- 
ciples and abstract truths may be safely admitted, without restriction or limi- 
tation; when all races and conditions of the human family, within our 
borders, may be safely allowed a perfect equality of rights, social and politi- 
cal; that, as to African slavery, the period of universal emancipation is at 
hand; the shadow is already upon us, the handwriting is upon the wall — 
upon which the slaveholder may look and tremble. The honorable Sena- 
tor from New York (Mr. Seward) undertakes to speak as a prophet; to 
announce, in advance, the decree of Heaven, and to call upon all people to 
hearken and obey. He presumptuously assumes that the will of Deity 
has been thwarted, in the constitutions of all societies and governments 
which have tolerated slavery in any form in times past; and that there can 
be no purpose of wisdom or beneficence on High, in upholding itany longer. 
This may be so, sir; but, in my poor judgment, the time for these great and 
radical changes in the social and political condition of many of the nations 
of the earth, which we admit to be civilized, is not Yet. But I believe 
the time will come, sooner or later, when the forty millions of Russian serfs 



30 

will break the sceptre of the Czarj strike off the manacles which now fetter 
them; assert the rights of freemen, and the privileges of self-government: 
but it does not appear to me, that the time is yet, when all these privileges 
can be conceded to them with safety to their own welfare. So, sir, I 
suppose, that at some future period the hundred millions of Hindoos, now 
subject to British rule, may emerge from their thraldom, improved to some 
degree of competency for self-government. But, sir, I have little hesitation 
in saying that, whatever may be the seeming or actual oppressions under 
which that people groan at this time, the advantages they derive from the 
introduction of European civilization, and the restraints imposed by a vig- 
orous and enlightened government, are more than an equivalent for them 
all. 

And, sir, the time may come, when the three millions of slaves in the 
United States will be free; but it is not yet. When and how this great 
change in their condition shall take place, I do not pretend to foresee; but, 
I have an abiding confidence, that when that time shall come, our system, 
under the continued protection and favor of a beneficent Providence, will 
pass that ordeal, and every other to which it may be subjected, in safety; and 
for ages, in the far future, continue to dispense its blessings to millions 
of grateful and prosperous freemen. 



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